Grave Matters

On a recent trip with the Indiana Historical Society called “Grave Matters,” touring cemeteries in Southern Indiana, Jeannie, a grave expert accompanied us.  She is pictured below in the first picture.  She talked about how headstones have changed over the years from being religious in nature, then being more focused on nature, and how now these grave markers are showing the rise of pop culture.

While looking at these stones dedicated to people’s lives, we wound up in a discussion about what the headstones should be.  Are they for the living?  Or, are they for the dead?  Should they be something to encourage those left behind, or something to give praise to God for the persons’ lives, or something to depict the person, or what they most liked in life?   Should the person decide on their gravestone before they die, or is this something for the family to choose?  Some things to think about.  I wonder.

Gravestones are nothing new. In Genesis 35 it is written:  “Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem. Jacob set up a pillar to mark her grave.”  Wonder what that one looked like?  I do indeed wonder.